Sheriff Concedes Policies Violated in Deputy’s Shooting : O.C. law enforcement: Gates answers criticism of how department handled on-job death of one of its own and vows review of training rules after D.A. completes inquiry.

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates, breaking his virtual silence on the Christmas Day shooting death of a veteran deputy, acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that internal policies apparently were broken during an impromptu training session that led to the fatality.

Gates also vowed that once a criminal probe into the shooting is completed, sheriff’s officials would review training procedures that have come under attack from some community leaders in the wake of Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins’ death.

Robins, 30, who was married with an 18-month-old daughter, was shot in the face by Deputy Brian P. Scanlan, 32, a field training officer from Anaheim who was using a loaded weapon during the drill, authorities say.

“I don’t know the facts at this point but obviously a shooting took place that doesn’t appear to follow department policies,” Gates said. “There are obviously going to be problems once I get the facts.”

Gates had been largely unwilling to discuss the case or its broader implications for department policy. He said his department has been limited by county regulations from disclosing specific details of the investigation to the public.

But in a two-hour interview that offered some new details, the sheriff said Tuesday that he wanted to help dispel criticism of the department’s handling of the shooting.

Gates said Scanlan’s use of a loaded gun during the drill appears to conflict with department regulations--an acknowledgment that could play a part when it comes time for prosecutors to decide if Scanlan should be deemed criminally negligent.

“You don’t train and utilize loaded weapons. You don’t have your finger on the trigger,” Gates said. “The policy clearly states that. Anyone that deals with guns in law enforcement understands that from the day they come into this business.”

Robins, 30, was killed just after 2 p.m. on Dec. 25 during what was described as an informal training exercise in a lot behind a movie theater in Lake Forest. The Orange County district attorney’s office is trying to determine whether Robins, playing the suspect in a traffic stop, was shot when he startled Scanlan by pulling a gun out of the visor of his patrol car.

Gates said the central issue in the case remains a mystery.

“The question here for all of us is why was the gun loaded and why were they doing a training exercise with a loaded weapon,” Gates said. “That is the bottom-line question we all want answered. Until we are able to get the information from the D.A. to complete the factual situation and look at that, we won’t be able to answer that.”

The district attorney’s office is investigating the shooting to determine whether criminal charges--such as involuntary manslaughter or other counts in the area of criminal negligence--should be filed against Scanlan, a former Army private who is married to a deputy.

Gates said Scanlan, now on paid leave while receiving counseling, could also face disciplinary action ranging from a letter of reprimand to firing once the department undertakes an internal review. That process will likely take months.

Lake Forest Mayor Marcia Rudolph said Gates’ willingness to discuss the case publicly can only help assuage concerns that have lingered in the community since the shooting.

“It’s always positive when people admit mistakes if mistakes have been made,” she said. “I appreciate his going on record and stating the Sheriff’s Department’s position and his openness to re-evaluating whatever policies do exist.”

Since the shooting, the Sheriff’s Department has faced increasing criticism from some community leaders and law-enforcement experts who question why deputies were training with a loaded weapon, whether they should have been training at a public strip mall in the first place, and why authorities were slow to release basic information.

Many elected leaders from around the county said they were unaware before the shooting that such public training exercises even existed. And officials at some other police agencies say that their departments do not generally employ such training techniques.

Gates said the department would review the policy once prosecutors complete their investigation.

“In any situation where something has gone wrong, we sit down and review our entire policy,” he said. “We review everything in place to make sure . . . it is a sound one. If it needs to be adjusted, we adjust it. We will do that in this case.”

Gates said informal training sessions “are done frequently in every law enforcement agency that I am aware of. . . . We see that they are done safely. We try to make sure that they are done in ways that don’t endanger the deputies or the public.”

For the first time, Gates released on Tuesday excerpts from department policy manuals on training and related issues. He said Tuesday morning that he saw no reason why the full manuals should not be released to the media, but officials with the Sheriff’s Department and the county counsel’s office later refused to release copies, saying they had not yet been excised.

The manual excerpts made public showed that field training officers such as Scanlan are encouraged to use “role playing” techniques and allow a trainee to act out a law-enforcement situation. But the documents do not specify how these role-playing drills should be carried out or whether any situations or sites are considered off limits for training.

The manual also warns officers to avoid five “traps” in training: sarcasm, bullying, comedy, bluffing and complaining.

Responding to criticism that the department had been slow to release information on a case that has generated widespread public interest, Gates said that, in retrospect, the department might have “tried to get this stuff out a little bit quicker.”

The department did not release its first details on the shooting until 27 hours after it happened. The day after the incident, The Times quoted department officials in reporting that a then-unidentified deputy had accidentally shot and killed himself. But Gates insisted Tuesday that no one at his department ever said that.

Gates said his office was hampered by the county’s policy restrictions on the release of information in officer-involved shootings and said he was asked by a district attorney’s investigator not to reveal certain details.

* OFF CAMERA: Gates says patrol car videotape failed to capture shooting. A13

* TUSTIN IN FOCUS: Tustin will install video cameras in all its police cars. B5